Head to head · Exchange market data · October 2026 research run
Bitfinex API vs Gate
Bitfinex API scores 58.4 (C) on agent readiness against Gate's 56.4 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Gate leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics and maintenance & community. Both do exchange market data.
Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents · All 210 exchanges comparisons
Which one, for what
Best for An agent trading spot, margin or derivatives, or lending on the funding market, with scoped keys, official clients and paper trading.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 85 against 42
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 35
Watch for
No official MCP server, OpenAPI file or AsyncAPI file; the registry's Bitfinex servers are third parties proxying public market data
Gate C
Best for An agent trading spot, futures and earn products in a person's Gate account outside the 35 restricted locations, with a keyless MCP for research and an OAuth MCP or scoped key for trading.
Ahead on
- Schema & documentation, 70 against 48
- Agent ergonomics, 66 against 61
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 41
Also in its favour
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Runs on your own machine
Watch for
No status page, incident history or SLA; the terms give no uptime guarantee and cap liability at three months of fees
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Reliability Bitfinex API +43
Bitfinex API 85
Read with the hosted lines on the v2 API at api.bitfinex.com. bitfinex.statuspage.io is a Statuspage site with history back to May 2021 (20). Its feed has no entry between 25 March 2026 and 3 November 2026, so the last 90 days are clean on the record; the feed logs platform-wide outages only (a 14-hour maintenance in March 2026, a 3-hour outage in August 2025), so smaller incidents may go unrecorded. Judgement call (30). Rate limits with numbers, 10 to 90 a minute per IP and the WebSocket connection limits (15). ERR_RATE_LIMIT and the 60-second block are documented, with no Retry-After; orders take a cid but no idempotency key or retry guidance was found (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 20 + 30 + 15 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 85.
Gate 42
Graded with the hosted lines on the API v4 at api.gateio.ws with the hosted MCP beside it. No status page found (status.gate.com does not resolve, the docs link none), so 0 for the page and 5 for no readable history. Rate limits are published per endpoint group with numbers and fill-ratio rules (15). Every response carries X-Gate-RateLimit-Limit, X-Gate-RateLimit-Requests-Remain and X-Gate-RateLimit-Reset-Timestamp, 429 answers with the label TOO_FAST, and spot orders take a user text identifier, but no retry or idempotency guidance is written down (12 of 15). No SLA (0). API v4 and the MCP endpoints are production surfaces (10). 42.
Maintenance & community Gate +36
Bitfinex API 41
Read as a closed service with open clients. The last dated change we could read is bitfinex-api-node 9.1.0 on 18 July 2026, 108 days before the check; the docs changelog stops in October 2024 (10). Not three dated releases in the last 90 days (0). The bitfinexcom organisation pushes often (bfx-report on 3 November 2026) and the clients have issue trackers, but support articles answered 403 and no reply times were read (10 of 25). Official clients current in four languages, Node 9.1.0 of July 2026 and Python 4.0.0 of October 2025; not in the MCP registry (15). The Node client has a dependency history of security fixes (its last GitHub release notes name two) and no CI was read (6 of 10). 10 + 0 + 10 + 15 + 6 = 41.
Gate 77
Read as a hosted service with open-source MCP packages. The API changelog's latest entry is 2 November 2026 and gate-skills was pushed 3 November (30). 40 dated changelog entries since 5 August 2026 (20). developer@gate.com, a help centre and issue trackers on gate-mcp and gate-skills, replies not checked (12 of 25). In the official MCP registry under io.github.gateio-dev, a GitHub namespace rather than gate.com, and official SDKs current (10 of 15). The local package has a publish workflow and no test workflow in CI, and its last tag is 16 April 2026 (5 of 10). 77.
Schema & documentation Gate +22
Bitfinex API 48
No OpenAPI or AsyncAPI file was found on docs.bitfinex.com, in llms.txt or in the client repositories (0). llms.txt and a .md twin of every docs page (10). Each reference page states the endpoint's purpose and fields, and the introduction says when to use api-pub against api, but nothing says when not to use an endpoint (14 of 20). Responses are positional arrays described in field tables, inputs are typed in prose with some enumerations (wallet names, order types) and required fields marked; the withdrawal CODE field is work in progress (7 of 15). Signed-request recipes in five languages, but authenticated errors are documented as 400 with an empty object and there is no error reference (9 of 15). Version v2 in the path and a dated changelog, whose last entry is October 2024 and whose v1 deprecation has no date (8 of 15). 0 + 10 + 14 + 7 + 9 + 8 = 48.
Gate 70
No public OpenAPI file was found, though the SDKs are generated and the MCP tools carry typed parameters per the tool reference; the hosted tools' JSON Schema could not be read without a session (12 of 25). The whole REST and WebSocket documentation is downloadable as Markdown and the agent guide is a plain page (10). The tool reference gives one line and the main parameters per tool, the API reference a description per endpoint, no when-not-to-use guidance (12 of 20). Required flags, enums for side, type and time_in_force (11 of 15). Examples per endpoint and a labelled error body with a fixed label list the docs tell you to branch on instead of messages (13 of 15). A versioned changelog, v4.106.177 on 2 November 2026 (12 of 15, since entries are terse). 70.
Agent ergonomics Gate +5
Bitfinex API 61
Graded on the REST API. Limits on trades, candles and book depth, and pub:list config endpoints keep responses small, but positional arrays make every field a lookup (14 of 25). start, end, limit and sort on history endpoints and per-symbol variants (16 of 20). ERR_RATE_LIMIT is actionable; authenticated 400s return {} and withdrawal status strings may change, so an agent cannot branch on causes (8 of 20). A client id on orders, order multi-op and cancel-multiple, but no idempotency key and no retry contract (8 of 20). Few required parameters and official clients in Node, Python, Go and Ruby (15). 14 + 16 + 8 + 8 + 15 = 61.
Gate 66
Read for the API with the hosted MCP beside it. The MCP is split by endpoint (58 public tools on /mcp, 400 or more on /mcp/exchange, smaller info and news servers) and the local package filters by module and read-only flag, which stands in for toolsets (5 of 25 for the trading server, 10 added back). Pagination by page and limit, from and to timestamps, status filters (15 of 20). Error labels such as INVALID_SIGNATURE, REQUEST_EXPIRED, IP_FORBIDDEN and READ_ONLY name the recovery (15 of 20). The text order identifier makes retries safe; the local server's source sets no readOnlyHint or destructiveHint and the hosted annotations are unread (8 of 20). Three required fields on a spot order, SDKs in seven languages and a CLI (13 of 15). 66.
Payments & pricing Bitfinex API +5
Bitfinex API 40
No machine payment protocol (0). The fees page is public without login (20), though it shows zero maker and taker with no tiers or date. The API is free, public endpoints need no account, and paper trading needs no money (20). A person must sign up in a browser with identity checks and mint the key (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.
Gate 35
No machine payment protocol (0). The fee page's table loads after login; help centre and learn articles give the VIP 0 spot rates (15 of 20). Market data over REST and the public MCP needs no account and no card (20). A person registers, verifies identity and mints the key or approves the grant in a browser (0). 35.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Bitfinex API | Gate | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 85 | 42 | Bitfinex API +43 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 48 | 70 | Gate +22 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 61 | 66 | Gate +5 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 62 | 60 | Bitfinex API +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 40 | 35 | Bitfinex API +5 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 41 | 77 | Gate +36 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 49 | 49 | even |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | C 58.4/100 | C 56.4/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Bitfinex API | Gate |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | iFinex Inc. | Gate |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | https://api.gatemcp.ai/mcp |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio | |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted API under Bitfinex's API Terms of Service, which our reader couldn't load. The official client libraries (Node, Python, Go, Ruby) are MIT or Apache-2.0 | none |
| Tools exposed | none | 58 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | not listed | io.github.gateio-dev/gate-mcp |
| Last release | 2026-07-18 | 2026-11-02 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-07-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | 480 stars | 44 stars |
Verdicts
Bitfinex API
Bitfinex gives an agent scoped keys with a separate withdraw permission, paper-trading sub-accounts on the production API, llms.txt and official clients in four languages. There is no official MCP server, responses are positional arrays with empty error bodies, rate limits run 10 to 90 a minute per IP, and the terms, API terms and privacy statement could not be read.
Gate
Gate runs official hosted MCP servers with keyless market data and OAuth-scoped trading, a local stdio server with a read-only switch, per-endpoint rate limits with headers and a futures testnet. There is no status page, SLA or OpenAPI file, the fee table needs a login, the MCP host is a separate domain, and the terms name no company.
Before you call either
Bitfinex API
- Mint a key with read on the scopes the task needs and write only on
orders; never grantwithdrawto a trading key, and bind the key to known IPs - Use one key per client process, since each key keeps its own strictly increasing nonce and a reused nonce is rejected
- Rehearse on a paper-trading sub-account with the TEST symbols before touching real balances; the sub-account cannot be converted later
- Plan requests against the per-endpoint limit of 10 to 90 a minute per IP;
ERR_RATE_LIMITblocks the IP for 60 seconds with no Retry-After - Map each response by position from the docs' field tables and set a
cidon orders, because responses are arrays and a 400 carries no reason
Gate
- Start on https://api.gatemcp.ai/mcp for prices and order books with no credential; switch to /mcp/exchange only when the person has approved the OAuth grant with the narrowest scopes
- For a key-based route, create a key on a dedicated sub-account with read-only on every group but the one the task needs, withdrawal disabled and an IP allow-list; changes take up to 5 minutes
- Put a unique
textvalue starting with t- on every spot order and reuse it on the retry; read the order back before placing again - Read X-Gate-RateLimit-Requests-Remain and stop at zero; spot order placement is capped at 10 a second and withdrawals at 1 per 3 seconds
- Rehearse futures logic on api-testnet.gateapi.io with TestNet keys; there is no spot testnet
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Bitfinex API or Gate?
Bitfinex API scores 58.4 (C) on agent readiness against Gate's 56.4 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Gate leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics and maintenance & community.
Do Bitfinex API and Gate need an API key?
Bitfinex API needs an API key. Gate takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.
Can an agent call Bitfinex API and Gate without installing anything?
No hosted endpoint is listed for Bitfinex API. Gate has a hosted endpoint at https://api.gatemcp.ai/mcp.
Other comparisons with Bitfinex API or Gate
- Bitfinex API vs Bitget
- Bitfinex API vs Bithumb Open API
- Bitfinex API vs Bitstamp API
- Bitfinex API vs Bybit
- Bitfinex API vs Coinbase Advanced Trade API
- Bitfinex API vs Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents)
- Bitfinex API vs Crypto.com Exchange API
- Bitfinex API vs Deribit
- Bitfinex API vs dYdX
- Bitfinex API vs Gemini Exchange API
- Bitfinex API vs HTX trading API
- Bitfinex API vs Hyperliquid
- Bitfinex API vs Kraken API
- Bitfinex API vs KuCoin
- Bitfinex API vs MEXC API
- Bitfinex API vs OKX API
- Bitfinex API vs Uniswap Trading API
- Bitfinex API vs Upbit Open API
- Bitget vs Gate
- Bithumb Open API vs Gate
- Bitstamp API vs Gate
- Bybit vs Gate
- Crypto.com Exchange API vs Gate
- Gate vs Gemini Exchange API
- Gate vs HTX trading API
- Gate vs Hyperliquid
- Gate vs Kraken API
- Gate vs KuCoin
- Gate vs MEXC API
- Gate vs OKX API
- Gate vs Uniswap Trading API
- Gate vs Upbit Open API
- Binance API vs Bitfinex API
- Binance API vs Gate
- Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs Gate
- Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs Gate
- Deribit vs Gate
- dYdX vs Gate
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/bitfinex-vs-gate-io.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/bitfinex.json·/api/v1/tools/gate-io.json - From a terminal
anchor compare bitfinex gate-io(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "bitfinex", "b": "gate-io"}at/mcp, no key